Sunday, December 31, 2017

St. Joseph, Michigan

This box arrived nicely folded inside an envelope this week. My detective work, as there was no name on the envelope, tells me this was sent by Rob of St. Joseph, Michigan (if that's wrong someone please correct me). Upon opening it, I was struck with the sudden realization that I didn't already have one of these. I have an uncut bottom of the box, and 16 of the cut-out cards, but I didn't have an intact box. This realization made feel kind of silly, why didn't I have one? They're really cool, and I immediately found a spot to display this one on my bookshelf (where it looks great) and it's easy to display as it stands up on it's own. So thank you very much Rob, it's really appreciated and a great way to wrap up the year.

At one point in time, I had two of these boxes. I bought them as a kid in 1988 at a card shop called "Umpire's Choice" which used to be located on Cactus Rd in Phoenix. I of course, enlisted my mother to neatly cut out the cards the moment I got home with them. I remember also cutting out the Dawson on the front. "Umpire's Choice" wasn't our primary shop, that title belonged to "The Batters Box" (which still exists and is the best vintage shop in all of Phoenix). My brother and I were ultimately forced to stop going to "Umpire's Choice" after they took us for $4 a pack of 1990 Upper Deck when it was first released and was sure to have the "next Dale Murphy" error. They called my mother a name when she complained and that was the end of our shopping days there.

It took about twenty years of not trying, but it's nice to finally have one of these boxes again. And for those keeping track, I don't count the box or uncut bottom sheets towards the card total.

I don’t think I’ve been to either shop. When I was a kid growing up in Phoenix, I would ride my bike to a small tucked away cardshop in a little complex on Tatum and Thunderbird. I remember picking out a box of 88 Donruss with my dad for my birthday and feeling on top of the world.